Festival de Mascaras, Hatillo, Puerto Rico

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About Festival de Mascaras, Hatillo, Puerto Rico

Have fun......show your best images of this festival, but not just of the procession itself, show all kinds of related images of this event. Bonus points will be given for originality, experimentation and relevant images that inspire and celebrate Puerto Rican culture at this time.

WARNING: This is a group open to children therefore offensive images will be deleted.

It would be neat to meet up as a flickr group on thr day after to share expereinces and just get to know each other and celebrate. Bueno, que piensan?

Festival de Mascaras, Hatillo, Puerto Rico, 2006


















Festival de Las Mascaras en Hatillo, PR 12/06
Se celebra en Hatillo desde que los españoles fundaron esta ciudad en 1823. Representa la historia bíblica de Herodes cuando ordenó la matanza de todos los niños para así matar al niño Jesús. Los hombres cubiertos con máscaras de colores representando a los soldados corren o cabalgan por la ciudad en la mañana temprano buscando a los niños. Hay comida, artesanía y música.

There is a Tradition each year on the 28th of December which is known as the Máscaras (Masks) of Hatillo. This Tradition dates back to 1823, when the town of Hatillo was founded. This Tradition came with settlers from the Canary Islands. The meaning of this tradition is the Holy Innocents, or Santos Inocentes: the first martyrs of Christian faith from Matthew's story in which small children were killed by Herod in an unsuccessful attempt to kill Jesus. It is a very special day with lots of fun and a large meeting of Mascaras: masked men and women of all ages, who wear costumes according to tradition, typically covered from head to toe, and parade through their town and nearby towns all day, making jokes and having fun, followed by a large multiple, and celebrated procession through all the town and nearby town's neighborhoods, and ending at the Hatillo town center. It is a multi-dynamic and wonderful experience for everyone in Hatillo and nearby towns. This special tradition came from the Canary Islands, the main place from Spain where the Hatillo, Camuy, and nearby town's Spanish immigrants arrived, mainly in the 1800's. Many of the native people of Hatillo, Camuy, Arecibo, and several nearby towns are proud to call themselves "Isleños", or people descendant from the Canary Island's immigrants.